A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Amphitheatre

This Tuesday saw Adam, Joe, Sam and Andrew go head-to-head over a brand new game, Colosseum. This game of showbiz management in Ancient Rome proved to be quite silly and fun after the grinding strategums of Age of Steam, Brass and Medici that we’ve had recently. This night was a time for a bit of glitz and glamour as the four gamers put on show fit for an Emporer. Or Consul. Whichever was nearest to the theatre.

After a brief but thorough run through the rules, we were thrown into the world of before-Christ light entertainment and our faltering tactics took a while to get going. Andrew tried to sow up the low end of the market with shows about the god of wine Bacchus, or about some woman’s revealed secrets. Meanwhile, Joe tried to appeal to those in power with Ceaser’s Triumphant March, or some similarly titled propaganda.

In the end, both of these populist tactics backfired on them, as Sam stole first place from Andrew in a closely fought final round by a single point: Sam 82, Andrew 81... I can’t remember what the others got, but Adam was third and Joe came fourth by a country mile; his final epic show stymied by a complete lack of actors. Maybe Sam’s victory was a result of the good karma he picked up for supplying mid-game cheese and crackers.

So Colosseum is an enjoyable, if lightweight game. Perhaps it needs a little more opportunity for ruining other people’s shows. Or perhaps it was that lack of double-crossing that left Adam and Joe in third and fourth, since that's usually when they flourish.

The evening ended with Joe regaining some pride (and £1.50) on a quick game of No Thanks, with everyone putting in 50p. Adam’s lack of chip management meant he ended up in last (threatening to break Andrew’s record high score of 118 points). An uncharacteristically bad night for Adam.

The Leaderboard

	Played	Points
Joe	14	28
Adam	15	26
Sam	9	19
Andrew	17	18
Steve	4	9
Jonny	6	8
Will	2	4
Quentin	2	2
Hannah	1	1
Jon	1	1